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William Harper
William Harper (b. 23 February, 1960 - 1981) was a pureblooded wizard and the best friend of Lyra Black and Lola Ramona. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1971-1978 and was sorted into Ravenclaw house. His father was a Gaunt which meant William was related to Salazar Slytherin and Lord Voldemort. Biography Family lineage The Gaunts were an ancient, and formerly wealthy, wizarding family, noted for producing individuals with violent and unstable personalities due to generations of inbreeding. Previous, named members of the Gaunt family — William's distant relatives — included Corvinus Gaunt, William's paternal ancestor, and a Parselmouth who hid the Chamber of Secrets entrance in a girls' restroom at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Rionach Gaunt, the mother of Ilvermorny founder Isolt Sayre; and Gormlaith Gaunt, the sister of Rionach; maternal aunt of Sayre; maternal great-aunt of Rionach Steward and Martha Steward; and, it is believed, the "last of the Irish branch of the Gaunt family". Because of the Gaunt family's liking for grandeur, along with little sensibility at their indulgences, the family gold was gambled away and gone long before the last known heirs of the lineage were born. Likewise, a tendency to "marry their own cousins" to "keep their bloodline pure", following the beliefs of their ancestor Salazar Slytherin, caused the heirs to the Gaunt name to suffer the ill-effects of generations of inbreeding and incest. In North America, in what would later become the state of Massachusetts in the United States, the descendants of the Irish branch of the Gaunt family, through the Sayre's line, was thought to have died out sometime in the 17th or 18th century. Rionach Steward, Sayre's Half-blood daughter and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Ilvermony, was also rumoured to have inherited the ability to speak Parseltongue from her mother. Unwilling to further Slytherin's bloodline, since she viewed him as a Dark wizard, Rionach never married or had children, and she later died without heirs. However, Rionach was unaware that another branch of the Gaunt family was still present, alive and well, across the ocean in England. It was from this line of Gaunts from which, centuries later, another Half-blood descendant, William Charles Harper, would be born. Rionach's sister Martha, unlike her sibling, married a No-maj (Muggle) friend of the nearby Pocumtuc Native American tribe. Born a Squib, without any magical powers, Martha felt ostracised within the growing American wizarding community, despite being the child of an important family. In the end, due to the emotional pain caused by being unable to perform magic, and the stigma of being the the only Squib to grow up at Ilvermorny, Martha decided to live her life henceforth as a Muggle. William's paternal great-grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, and his paternal grandfather, Morfin Gaunt, claimed to be the last known male, Pure-blood descendants of Slytherin by the early 20th century. As such, they regarded themselves as "royalty" for their ancestry, despite their poverty; squalor; lack of education; and mental and physical disorders from centuries of familial inbreeding. This ended when William's father married pureblood Elizabeth Harper. Even though his mothers family were pureblood, they weren't qualified one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight as there may have been half-bloods at some point in their bloodline. The Harpers were a wealthy Irish family who's were talented alchemists. Early life (1960-1971) William was born at his parents lighthouse they had bought together located on the south side of the Isle of Wright, miles from London. William grew up very sheltered from the magical world, as his parents wished for him to have a normal childhood. William's father was descended from Salazar Slytherin and therefore knew that a war was brewing, due to this he took his wife's name in fear he may be tracked down by Lord Voldemort, who wished to be the only heir of Salazar Slytherin. William's parents also wondered if perhaps sending William to Beauxbatons in France would be better for him. Unfortunately Voldemort had discovered the whereabouts of William's father which resulted in the murder of both of his parents, leaving William orphaned at the age of 7. Before they died they had hidden William to keep him safe, however from his place of hiding, he had witnessed their deaths. After their death he was brought up by his mothers parents, Charles and Lucinda, who raised him at the lighthouse he was born in. The whole experience left William with a hole in his heart and caused him to barely ever speak. Hogwarts years (1971-1978) First year William's grandparents sent him off for his first year at Hogwarts and to his delight he found a compartment only inhabited by one boy who looked as uninterested in talking as he was. However a little later a girl came into the compartment and started talking. She didn't stop until another girl entered the compartment and to William's happiness, she took up the other girls' interest. Neither of the boys in the compartment spoke for the entire trip. Upon arrival William shared a boat with the other boy from his compartment, a little chubby blonde boy and a girl who introduced herself as Alice. At the sorting feast William was sorted into Ravenclaw. He shared a dorm with Jordan Kline, Warren Thompson, Jared Lovell and Quincy Adams. Although the four other boys immediately made friends, William kept mostly to himself. William also had a love for reading and spent most of his free time in the library. A month into the school year, William was approached by Lola Ramona and Lyra Black, the two girls he had shared a compartment with on the Hogwarts Express. They invited him to play Gobstones, which he reluctantly agreed with, nonetheless, he did. The three ended up spending the day together, ending it with hot chocolate in the common room by the fireplace. After that the three became quite inseparable. Relationships Family Parents "My father taught me to be brave, my mother taught me to love." —William about his parents. Edmond and Elizabeth were murdered in front of their child when he was seven. He was very close to his parents, and held them close to him even after their deaths. His mother taught him to love to read and had gifted him a 'Tales of Beadle the Bard' for his fifth birthday. He kept the copy throughout his life as his mother had written small comments everywhere in the book. His father had tried his hardest to be a good father, since he didn't really know how to, not having had a proper father figure in his life. William always tried to be brave like his father had been for him. In 1976, he punched Jesse Mulciber in the face after he insulted his parents. Grandparents William was raised by Lucinda and Charles after his parents were murdered. His grandparents were kind people who were devoted to them. William, however, affected by witnessing his parents getting murdered, often didn't speak and rarely showed emotion with them. In 1973, he told Lyra Black and Lola Ramona, that he regretted the way he had treated his grandparents when they took him in. William lost his grandparents in 1976 and was very moved at the funeral service. Lola Ramona Lola was William's first true friend. They first met on the Hogwarts Express in their first year and were then sorted into the same house. Later into the year, Lyra Black, convinced Lola to ask William for a game of Gobstones. After the game the three became inseparable. William looked up to Lola, who was proud of who she was and never let the Slytherin's comments get to her. He often defended her when the comments got too severe, which she was grateful for, but said she didn't mind. William was however very angry with the comments, and would often take them personally even though they wasn't implied for him.